1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a fiber optic cable. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fiber optic cable having no rigid strength members, a reduced weight, and a reduced coefficient of thermal expansion.
2. Related Art
A conventional central tube fiber optic cable design includes rigid strength members embedded in an outer jacket of the cable. The rigid strength members are utilized for tensile strength and to prevent attenuation in the optical fibers within the cable due to thermal contraction of the cable.
While the rigid strength members are effective in reducing the thermal contraction of the cable, the use of rigid strength members introduces numerous drawbacks. For example, the presence of rigid strength members in the outer jacket significantly increases the wall thickness of the outer jacket, the overall diameter of the fiber optic cable, and the weight of the fiber optic cable.
Another drawback associated with the use of rigid strength members is that the bending performance of the fiber optic cable is significantly limited. In the traditional fiber optic cable, two rigid strength members are generally positioned so as to be diametrically opposed to one another within the outer jacket of the cable. Due to the presence of these rigid strength members, the fiber optical cable exhibits a preferential and a non-preferential bending direction. Such bending restrictions negatively affect the ease of installation of conventional fiber optic cables.
Therefore, what is needed is a fiber optic cable design that eliminates the need for rigid strength members while preventing the thermal contraction of the outer jacket material.